J.S. Bach: Tombeau de Sa Majesté la Reine de Pologne

Featuring

Katherine Fuge
Carlos Mena
Jan Kobow
Stephan MacLeod
Francis Jacob
Philippe Pierlot

Ricercar Consort
Johann Sebastian Bach

Did you know?

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Compositional Technique

The instrumentation of Bach's 'Tombeau de S.M. la Reine de Pologne' is highly unusual, featuring pairs of transverse flutes, oboes, oboes d'amore, violas da gamba, and lutes, instruments traditionally associated with expressing grief.

Performer Biography

Philippe Pierlot, the director of the Ricercar Consort, is one of the few performers who plays the baryton, a little-known instrument for which Haydn composed nearly 150 works.

Compositional Technique

Bach's 'Tombeau de S.M. la Reine de Pologne' was structured like a 'catafalque in sound,' with an organ prelude, the first part of the cantata, a funeral oration, the second part of the cantata, and an organ fugue.

Compositional Technique

The closing fugue of the 'Tombeau de S.M. la Reine de Pologne' uses a Bohemian folksong theme about an unhappily married woman, a clear allusion to the princess's own life.

Historical Context

Princess Christiane Eberhardine, wife of August 'the Strong' (King of Poland), remained faithful to her Lutheran faith despite her husband's conversion to Catholicism, endearing her to the Saxons.

Composition History

Bach's 'Tombeau de S.M. la Reine de Pologne' (Mourning Ode) was commissioned by an aristocratic student, Hans Carl von Kirchbach, for a funeral ceremony in memory of Princess Christiane Eberhardine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth.

Recording & Production

The organ used for the Missa BWV 234 and the 'Tombeau de S.M. la Reine de Pologne' is a wooden table organ, built in 2003 by Luc and Larissa Meurice, inspired by 17th-century Italian and South German designs.